Mr. Thys’s recent article (“Sixty-six people appointed to town committees failed to get sworn in”) could be interpreted as blaming those 66 volunteers. Plymouth town government depends heavily on volunteers and the volunteers in question very likely had not read the town bylaws, didn’t know they needed to be sworn in, or were just confused about the system and process.
The number is large enough (66…really?) that it’s an indictment of “the system,” not the volunteers and imposing an unforgiving deadline on those volunteers is harsh and unnecessary. Managing the “swearing in” system is an administrative problem, not a policy-driven problem, and, it seems to me, a relatively easy problem to fix. As the article suggests, our town clerk, Ms. McElreath, is a smart, competent, administrator who can manage this problem. Let Kelly fix the system.
I emphasize that the problem is an administrative one, not a problem that the Select Board should be spending time on. I hope that neither Mr. Golden nor Mr. Canty nor any other board members spend much more time on the matter. (A few members insisted that the board take up the issue at their next meeting.)
Also, Mr. Thys must be far more tuned in to the board’s internecine dynamics than I am. I did not detect “simmering tensions between Canty and Vice Chair David Golden.” The meeting I saw seemed civil enough and I commend Mr. Canty for his equanimity, judgment, and management of the conversation on Mr. Golden’s request to impose a deadline on 66 volunteers who most likely did not know they were at fault.
A problem has been identified, Ms. McElreath is well-qualified to solve it, and there is little need for the Select Board to spend time on these matters. I want the Select Board to spend time applying wisdom and goodwill in setting policies that make sense for the town on safety, housing, open space, conservation, and the future of the town.
– Joe Hutchinson